scholarly journals An Integrative Review on the Research Progress of Mindfulness and Its Implications at the Workplace

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (24) ◽  
pp. 13852
Author(s):  
Panditharathne Nishantha Kumara Wijesekara Panditharathne ◽  
Zhixia Chen

Mindfulness has rapidly become a significant subject area in many disciplines. Most of the work on mindfulness has focused on the perspective of health and healthcare professionals, but relatively less research is focused on the organizational outcomes at the workplace. This review presents a theoretical and practical trajectory of mindfulness by sequential integration of recent fragmented scholarly work on mindfulness at the workplace. The review showcases that most contemporary practical challenges in organizations, such as anxiety, stress, depression, creativity, motivation, leadership, relationships, teamwork, burnout, engagement, performance, well-being, and physical and psychological health, could be addressed successfully with the budding concept of mindfulness. The causative processes due to higher mindfulness that generate positive cognitive, emotional, physiological, and behavioral outcomes include focused attention, present moment awareness, non-judgmental acceptance, self-regulatory functions, lower mind wandering, lower habit automaticity, and self-determination. Employee mindfulness could be developed through various mindfulness interventions in order to improve different organizational requirements, such as psychological capital, emotional intelligence, prosocial behavior, in-role and extra-role performance, financial and economic performance, green performance, and well-being. Accordingly, this review would be beneficial to inspire academia and practitioners on the transformative potential of mindfulness in organizations for higher performance, well-being, and sustainability. Future research opportunities and directions to be addressed are also discussed.

2012 ◽  
Vol 71 (3) ◽  
pp. 135-139 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan M. Burg ◽  
Oliver T. Wolf

Empirical research has demonstrated associations between heart rate variability (HRV) and the regulation of emotion and behavior. Similarly, self-regulation of attention to one’s experience of the present moment in an accepting and nonjudgmental manner is an essential characteristic of mindfulness that promotes emotional and behavioral regulation and psychological well-being. The present study investigated the relationship between mindfulness and HRV. A total of 23 undergraduate psychology students completed a recently developed measure of mindfulness, the mindful breathing exercise (MBE), which assesses the ability to mindfully stay in contact with one’s breath during breathing meditation. Moreover, indices of HRV were measured during a short version of the MBE. As predicted, positive correlations were found between indices of HRV and mindfulness. The findings demonstrate that the ability to mindfully regulate one’s attention is associated with higher HRV, a physiological correlate of physical and psychological health, and therefore support on a physiological level the potential benefit of the implemented mindfulness exercises in mindfulness-based clinical interventions.


Author(s):  
Andrea Zammitti ◽  
Chiara Imbrogliera ◽  
Angela Russo ◽  
Rita Zarbo ◽  
Paola Magnano

Italy was quickly hit hard by the coronavirus. ‘Lockdown’ has significantly impacted the psychological health, personal wellbeing and quality of life of the people. The study aims to explore the relationship between positive and negative affect, as well as positive (spiritual well-being and flourishing) and negative outcomes (psychological distress caused by a traumatic life event in terms of perception of PTSD symptoms) on Italian adults during the lockdown period. Data was collected between April and May 2020. The participants were 281 Italian adults aged between 18 and 73 years. The survey was composed of the following measures: Flourishing Scale, Jarel Spiritual Well-Being scale, Positive and Negative Affect Schedule, Impact of Event Scale—Revised, Fear of COVID-19. The mediational analysis shows that fear of COVID-19 fully mediates the relationship between negative affect and spiritual well-being and flourishing; fear of COVID-19 partially mediates the relationship between negative affect and PTSD symptoms; the positive affect shows only direct effects on positive outcomes. Therefore, fear of COVID-19 does not play any mediation role. Implications for psychological interventions and future research will be discussed.


Author(s):  
Costas Yannopoulos ◽  
Stefanos Alevizos ◽  
Marina Kavallieraki

The Smile of the Child is a Greek non-profit, voluntary organization in the field of social pedagogy. It has been an NGO active in the field of child protection and children’s rights since 1996. It began as the dream of 10-year old Andreas Yannopoulos, who, shortly before losing his own battle for life, documented his vision in his journal. The Smile of the Child, empowered by committed employees and the support of hundreds of volunteers, provides services 24 hours a day throughout the year, including programmes for children’s welfare and protection of their physical and psychological health, as well as for the safety of thousands of children in danger in Greece.


2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 71-79
Author(s):  
Victoria А. Dmitrieva ◽  
◽  
Kristina S. Kharlova ◽  

Substantiates the effectiveness of using the «Melodance» technique as a means of physical activity that increases well-being, activity and mood, improves physical condition and the desire for a healthy lifestyle. The results of our own research have shown that the Melodance technique has a wide potential as a means of physical activity and strengthening the physical and psychological health of a person, as well as forming an attitude towards a healthy lifestyle. The prospects for the application of this technique are shown.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ozlem Koseoglu Ornek ◽  
Nurcan Kolac

Workaholism has been a growing issue among the labour force worldwide. However, there is no consensus between scholars about its definition yet. It might be described as “being overly concerned about work, driven by a strong and uncontrollable desire to work, and spending so much energy and effort on work that it impairs private relationships, personal hobbies/activities, and/or health”. Generally, people with specific personality traits may have an increased chance of developing workaholism. In addition, there are other factors, such as sociocultural characteristics, relationships with colleagues and significant others, and organizational culture might also play an important influence on developing workaholism. It causes many physical and psychological health problems, such as high blood pressure, anxiety, depression, and family and lifestyle dissatisfaction, and a reduction in job satisfaction, presenteeism, and motivation. Putting all of this together, it is clear that workaholism has a negative influence on employees’ quality of life and overall well-being. Therefore, this study aimed at examining a variety of approaches to define “workaholism” in related literature, defining its etiology, related factors, outcomes, prevention, and treatment. The PubMed/Medline database was also used for related studies that were published in English. “Workaholism”, “obsessive–compulsive behavior”, and “quality of health” were used as keywords. It is crucial to take action to prevent people from becoming workaholics. Early diagnoses of workaholism, using predictive factors by occupational healthcare professionals in the workplace, would help decrease its impact on workers’ health, and an effective treatment of workaholism should be applied.


2020 ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
Keri-Leigh Cassidy ◽  
Michael Vallis ◽  
David Conn ◽  
Ariane S. Massie ◽  
Claire Checkland ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Background: Positive psychiatry offers an unique approach to promote brain health and well-being in aging populations. Minimal interventions through behavioral activation to promote wellness are increasingly available using self-guided apps, yet little is known about the effectiveness of app technology or the difference between clinician-supported behavioral activation versus self-guided app methodologies. Objectives: Investigate the difference in users and outcomes between two methods of the Fountain of Health (FoH) positive psychiatry intervention for behavioral activation to promote brain health and well-being: (1) clinician-assisted and (2) independent app use for behavioral self-management. Design and setting: As part of a larger knowledge translation intervention in positive psychiatry, two specific methods of a behavioral activation intervention were retrospectively compared. Participants: Two subsets of patients were compared; 254 clinician-assisted patients; 333 independent app users. Intervention: A minimal positive psychiatry intervention in frontline care using the FoH health and behavior change clinical tools Measurements: Main outcomes were changes in psychological (health and resilience, well-being scores) and behavioral indices (goal attainment, items of goal SMART-ness). User profiles (age, sex and completion rates) were also compared. Results: Clinician-assisted patients were more likely to be male, older, and have lower health and resilience scores at baseline. Clinician-assisted patients had notably higher completion rates (99.2% vs. 10.8%). Psychological outcomes (improved health and resilience, and well-being) were similar regardless of intervention method for those who completed the intervention. Behavioral outcomes revealed clinician-assisted patients set goals that better adhered to key goal-setting items. Conclusions: Clinician–patient relationships appear to be an important factor for intervention completion and behavioral outcomes, while further exploration of best practices for intervention completion using health apps in clinical practice is needed. A preliminary goal-setting methodology for effective behavioral activation, to promote brain health and wellness, is given.


2017 ◽  
Vol 41 (4) ◽  
pp. 497-512 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ronni Michelle Greenwood ◽  
Maura Adshead ◽  
Sarah Jay

We examined the relation of two acculturation stressors, exclusion from ordinary privileges and overt discrimination, to two indicators of psychological well-being (i.e., psychiatric symptoms and satisfaction with life) among a diverse sample of immigrant women living in Ireland ( N = 174). We grouped our sample into “visible” immigrant women of color and “nonvisible” White immigrant women. As expected, visible immigrant women reported more experiences of overt discrimination and fewer experiences of ordinary privileges than did nonvisible immigrant women. The associations of belonging to a visible immigrant group with both psychiatric symptoms and satisfaction with life were each mediated through ordinary privileges and overt discrimination. The magnitude of the two indirect effects was equal for psychiatric symptoms, but for satisfaction with life, the indirect effect through ordinary privileges was stronger. After accounting for ordinary privileges and overt discrimination, the average score for satisfaction with life was higher for visible immigrant women than for nonvisible immigrant women. These findings suggest that visible immigrant women experience exclusion from ordinary privileges to a greater extent than nonvisible immigrant women and that this type of exclusion is at least as detrimental to psychological health as more overt forms of discrimination. Our findings demonstrate the importance of attending to discrimination of both visible and nonvisible immigrants and highlight the importance of ordinary privileges to immigrants’ well-being in their countries of destination. We discuss implications for future research and social policy.


2014 ◽  
Vol 70 (7) ◽  
Author(s):  
Arezou Shafaghat ◽  
Ali Keyvanfar ◽  
Hasanuddin Lamit ◽  
Seyed Ali Mousavi ◽  
Mohd Zaimi Abd Majid

Sustainable office building indoor environment design is a challengeable issue for professionals in thermal comfort, satisfaction, health, and energy fields of research. The professionals intensively need a comprehensive list of office indoor environment design features to promote the level of performance and productivity of staff. One of the most effective factors dealing with staff performance and productivity is physical and psychological health which has not yet been investigated in depth is open-plan office design. In this regard, the current research aimed at establishing a comprehensive list of Open Plan Offices Design (OPOD) features affecting physical and psychological health and well-being of the staff at office buildings. Research methodology engaged two phases corresponding to two objectives. Phase one was to investigate OPOD features and sub-features through a critical literature review using fishbone cause-and-effect analysis technique. Phase one has clustered the OPOD features into two; positive and negative classes. The cause-and-effect analysis determined 3 positive features and 5 negative features involved in the positive and negative classes, respectively. The Efficient Workflow and Performance, Flexible Design, and Cost Efficient were identified as positive OPOD features which involves a number of sub-features. The Distraction, Decreasing Work Feedback, Job Dissatisfaction, Illness, and stress have been determined as OPOD features which impact negatively on staff’s health. The second phase conducted a content analysis on reviewed literatures to indicate the popularity of citation of each OPOD feature in previous studies. The content analysis determined in the Positive cluster, the sub-feature “Facilitate Communication”, under Efficient Workflow & Performance was investigated more than other sub-features. In addition, in the Negative cluster, the sub-feature Auditory Distraction under Distraction was highly investigated. The research asserts that undertaking the research outputs will promote performance and productivity of staff in office buildings. Architects, facility managers, design consultants, and authority may use the output as a decision support checklist for future office design and/or renovations.


2020 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marco Tommasi ◽  
Francesca Toro ◽  
Simone Arnò ◽  
Angelo Carrieri ◽  
Marco Maria Conte ◽  
...  

The exceptional pandemic due to the 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has obliged all Italians to stay at home. In the literature, there are evidences that traumatic global events, such as natural catastrophes and pandemic, have negative effects on the physical and psychological health of the population. We carried out a survey to analyze the physical and psychological conditions of Italians during the pandemic. Due to the severe limitations in moving during the phase one lockdown, the survey was administered by internet. Results show that Italians followed the provisions established by the Italian government to avoid contamination, but 43% of them declared to have suffered from physical symptoms, in particular migraine, sleep disorders, persistent exhaustion, and difficulty of concentration. They have great fear to be contaminated or that relatives or friends can be contaminated, and they actively take actions to avoid contamination. Participants declared that they had suffered a lot of inconveniences due to restrictions in their movements, and that their life habits were strongly changed. They spent their time at home in different activities, but their psychological well-being was strongly impaired by the lockdown. The level of anxiety tripled, in relation to the prepandemic period, and 30% of males and 41% of females declared to have severe levels of depression. Participants with high levels of optimism and hopefulness show a stronger resilience against anxiety and depression. In addition, there is a negative correlation between anxiety and depression and the five factors of personality. These results show that psychological diseases must not be neglected, and that people in lockdown do need support for their psychological health, also with the help of internet and communication technologies.


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